9/5/2017 – Mr. A Race

Foxes Cross Country teams competed at the Benton Park today in the Mr. “A” Race in Benton. The Mr. A race was named after a important man in Benton who has been with the school system for many years. He also is the man who has painted many maps around the area at schools and parks and etc. It was very touching for the Benton Coaches to name the Invitational after him. The weather today was about 20 degrees hotter than Friday at NCOE but still very nice weather. The Foxes finished 2nd as a team and the Lady Foxes finished 3rd as a team. The Foxes ran 18 boys and 7 girls in the race.

The Benton Course was the same as last year and will be the same course for the regionals and sectionals this year. The boys were up first with a 5:00 p.m. start. The boys charged up the first hill with some decent speed but trying not to burn themselves out for the rest of the race. Trenton Butler made his way to the first place position by the half mile mark and stayed there for the majority of the race, being beat only by a few seconds by two Benton runners in the final 500 meters. Matt Rubenacker ended up in 7th place with Hunter Braden finishing right behind him. Logan Hunt took 15th place, Theron Smith was 17th, Adam Wellen was 19th and Kaden Richards was 22nd. The Foxes finished with a team score of 50 points. Make sure to check out all the boys stats from the race by clicking the link above. The Foxes showed they have a lot of heart, but will have to work extra hard throughout the rest of the season to have a shot at beating Benton.

The Lady Foxes also ran well at Benton, with Jasmine Coomes (5th) and Raegan Halley (6th) placing in the top 10 during the race. Olivia Ragan finished in 14th place and Kaylee Chapman finished in 22nd place. Kylee Vaughan in her second meet for the Foxes finished in 31st to round out the top 5 and to give the Foxes a team score of 78. Leah Ragan finished in 48th and Maddi Jo Maxwell finished in 50th. Abby Reyling was sick and did not compete in the race and Jevin Shreve will be ready to run on Thursday at West Frankfort. The Lady Foxes team score of 78 was just behind Althoff (57) and Chester (63).

The Foxes were 2nd out of 10 full teams with 12 schools represented and just under 100 people racing. The Lady Foxes finished 3rd out of 7 full teams with 12 schools represented. Trenton Butler, Matt Rubenacker, Hunter Braden, Logan Hunt, Theron Smith, Adam Wellen, Jasmine Coomes, Raegan Halley, and Olivia Ragan all finished in the top 20 of their races and received T-shirts as awards. The Foxes next race will be at 4:30 pm on Thursday Septermber the 7th at the West Frankfort Park in West Frankfort Illinois (for details click here).